Phlebotomists choose their field of study for a variety of reasons. Some phlebotomists come to the job with a strong desire to help others. For others, it is the appeal of a healthcare career that does not require years of university study. Whatever the reason, many phlebotomists decide to take their phlebotomy career one step further into the instructing realm. Let’s take a look at how to become a phlebotomy instructor.
Begin With the Appropriate Training
Phlebotomy work completed in laboratories provides physicians with important information about a patient’s health. Blood banks rely on phlebotomists to take the donations that provide life-saving blood for transfusions. Teaching future phlebotomists begins with earning a certificate in the field, and then spending time performing the work.
Phlebotomy training will cover the basics of phlebotomy principles, and so much more. Before you can adequately teach your future students, you must first know the right way to choose a vein. During their training, phlebotomists learn the dangers of performing venipuncture on just any vein. Trained phlebotomists also know the differences between blood veins and arteries, and the inherent danger in making the wrong choice.
Teach Correct Principles
Successful venipunctures begin with an understanding of basic phlebotomy principles. Phlebotomy instructors must have a firm grasp on these principles to build a firm foundation for a future phlebotomist.
Training at PhlebotomyU will provide the future instructor first with the solid phlebotomy education. The course covers core essentials like infection control. Students learn what proper hygiene looks like and how the practice will help prevent the spread of pathogens.
Phlebotomy instructors will also help influence the habits that a phlebotomist will carry with them into their own practice. From the beginning, a phlebotomist develops a routine. Forming the right habits will help ensure that the right steps are taken each time they perform venipuncture on a patient. Failure to maintain the right steps can lead to mistakes.
One of the most important components of a phlebotomy education is a thorough understanding of the order of the draw and the reasons behind it. Before a novice phlebotomist is ready to enter the workforce, he or she must understand the reasons for the very specific order. Blood collection tubes contain additives necessary for certain tests. Using these tubes out of order will affect the outcome of other tests. This can cause the patient to have to repeat the test or, in a worst-case scenario, may return false test results.
Work Experience
Each blood draw a professional phlebotomist makes is one more experience that adds up to a body of work. Phlebotomy instructors will draw from their work experiences as they train their students.
Each patient that enters the lab and takes a seat in the phlebotomy chair comes with their own set of experiences and feelings about the blood draw. A phlebotomy instructor will have spent time with a variety of patients, from the simple to the more complex. This is where phlebotomy instruction leaves behind the words on the textbook page and enters into the hands-on instruction phase.
Venipunctures can vary as much as the patient. Learning in the field how to handle the tiny veins of a newborn to the thinner skin of geriatric patients will prepare future phlebotomy instructors to offer real advice to potential students.
Like many careers in healthcare, phlebotomists sometimes face the negative end of a patient’s anxiety over their procedure. In extreme cases, some people experience trypanophobia or the fear of needles. Others come after bad blood draw experiences with poorly trained phlebotomists or other factors that create stress and anxiety long before the needle hits the vein.
While real needle phobia is rare, some patients simply do not like having their blood taken, while others might experience fainting when their blood is drawn. For new phlebotomists, these situations can be difficult to face. Called syncope, a good phlebotomy instructor can draw from their own work experiences and offer advice for dealing with this and other situations.
Earning National Certification
After completion of phlebotomy training, achieving national certification through an entity like the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT) elevates a phlebotomist into a special category. After successfully passing The National Certified Phlebotomy Technician Certification the phlebotomist will present a resume to future employers that will stand out above non-certified candidates. The same holds true for a phlebotomy instructor; national certification will help set them apart as a serious, trained professional.
Training at PhlebotomyU
If you are interested in learning how to become a phlebotomy instructor, you can begin your phlebotomy training at PhlebotomyU. Our five-week training course covers the basics of phlebotomy and offers hands-on training. PhlebotomyU offers on-site testing for the NCCT National Phlebotomy Certification Examination. Click here for more information and get started on your phlebotomy career.
